🔶 #73: "What kind of stories are best at turning local news readers into subscribers?"
It’s hard news, not the soft stuff.
Hello, and welcome back to the News Alchemists newsletter!
And a first welcome to new subscribers from Daily Nation, One World Media, 9 Millones, the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, Edinburgh TV Festival, and all of you brave souls working independently.
In last week's top link, strategy and audience consultant Cecilia Dobbs asked a fascinating question: Is journalism an art or a science?
A free society requires journalists work like scientists, not artists - Editor and Publisher
What if journalism’s future depends less on acting like artists — and more on thinking like scientists? In this provocative E&P Shoptalk Digital Exclusive, industry product and audience development strategist Cecilia M. Dobbs argues that a free society requires journalism grounded in evidence, objectivity and accountability, not personal expression. Drawing on newsroom culture, scientific methodology and modern media debates, Dobbs explores why journalism’s credibility may depend on embracing standards designed to explain the world, not simply interpret it.
Cecilia M. Dobbs for E&P Magazine
Some of you had thoughts, but one answer in particular stood out – by Jakob Moll, Zetland's co-founder and international director [bold added by me]: